Last year in The Guidepost devotional book a rather interesting story was told about Gary and Mary Carney. One Sunday morning they arrived at church in the same car, but they were miles apart. They had engaged in one of those arguments before church and did not get their problem resolved. Someone said, "Never argue with your wife. You might win - and then you'll really be in trouble."

Somebody else said, "The best way to win an argument with your wife is to hit her over the head with a new mink coat."

Anyway, Gary and Mary Carney got to church. Humorously God's sovereignty was reflected in a secretary's typographical error. As Mary sat stewing in church, she glanced down at her bulletin. She and Gary were scheduled to sing a duet during the worship service. Next to their names was typed the word "duel." She smiled and looked at her husband. The decision was theirs to make - a duet or a duel. Through the quietness of that Sunday service, she reached for his hand, and the "duet" began.

In all of our relationships, marriage or otherwise, we make daily choices to participate in either a duet or a duel. Those decisions will dictate whether we build bridges or bombs.

Now, of all the relationships we have, which is most important? Is it not our relationship with God? For if it is good, everything else is better. But if it is bad, nothing else is ever quite right. The reason for that is both profound and simple. It is that we were made that way. We were designed that way. It is taught in the first page of the Bible.

God created us in His image. That means that we are like God in terms of intelligence and emotion; in terms of souls that live forever. But it is not just that, it's more than that. It is that when God made us, He designed us to have a good relationship with Him. It's the way we were meant to be. It's not just that we were created to be li ...

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